Volrath Shapestealer and Enduring Glimmers

Asked by Chaospyke 3 days ago

Volrath, the Shapestealer dies as a copy of Enduring Vitality. It returns to the battlefield as an enchantment. Will Volrath's activated ability allow it to become a creature again?

Gidgetimer says... Accepted answer #1

Yes. When a permanent is copied the copy is exactly the copied permanent with any changes made by the copy effect. The ability in question does not change the types of the copied permanent, just the P/T, so enchantment Volrath will once again be a creature.

March 24, 2025 8:04 p.m.

Rhadamanthus says... #2

It will just be an enchantment, not a creature, though it will have the copied creature's other abilities plus Volrath's copy abilility.

When there are multiple effects modifying an object's characteristics, the game uses a system of "Layers" to determine the final result. Volrath's copy effect applies in Layer 1, but the type-changing effect from Enduring Vitality's ability applies in Layer 4. Layers are applied in order, so even though Volrath's copy effect would make it into an exact copy of a creature, including type, Enduring Vitality's type-changing effect is applied later and Volrath ends up not being a creature.

613.1. The values of an object’s characteristics are determined by starting with the actual object. For a card, that means the values of the characteristics printed on that card. For a token or a copy of a spell or card, that means the values of the characteristics defined by the effect that created it. Then all applicable continuous effects are applied in a series of layers in the following order:
613.1a Layer 1: Rules and effects that modify copiable values are applied.
...
613.1d Layer 4: Type-changing effects are applied. These include effects that change an object’s card type, subtype, and/or supertype.
...

March 25, 2025 8:56 a.m.